The next CeDAMar expedition DIVA 3 has started - the German research vessel Meteor left the port of Montevideo on Saturday, 10 July to head for the Southwestern Atlantic. Daily reports of the participants about the life at sea, their problems and discoveries can be followed at www.deepsea-research.org.

The cruise is devoted to the study of benthic deep-sea biodiversity along a latitudinal gradient from 45° South to the Equator.  
It is planned to take quantitative samples in the Brazilian and the Argentinean Basin (western South Atlantic). In approximately 5,000m depth, the organismic biodiversity of all size classes (from nano- up to megafauna) shall be recorded and correlated with biotic, abiotic, and historical variables. The aim is to recognize possible relationships between the primary production in the water column and the benthic biodiversity.

Expedition DIVA 3 10 July – 23 August, 2009 from Montevideo (Uruguay) to Ponta Delgada (Azores) aboard the RV METEOR